A man who intentionally rammed into pedestrians, including South Asians, in Sunnyvale city in California earlier this week did so because he thought some of them were Muslim, the police said on Friday, according to AFP. The suspect, identified as Isaiah Joel Peoples, was arraigned in court on Friday on eight counts of attempted murder.
On Tuesday, Peoples was on his way to his Bible study group after picking up some food, when he ran over a group of people walking on a sidewalk at the intersection at El Camino Real and Sunnyvale Avenue, CNN quoted the police as saying. Peoples, an Army veteran, was arrested at the scene of the crash.
Eight people were wounded in the incident, including a 13-year-old girl who got critically injured. Her father and nine-year-old brother also sustained minor injuries. In an investigative summary submitted to the court, the girl was identified only by her first name, Dhriti. She is suffering from bleeding and swelling of brain and is currently in a coma, reports said. Her brother was identified as Prakhar.
Further evidence obtained by the police suggested that Peoples “intentionally targeted the victims based on their race and his belief that they were of the Muslim faith”, Police Chief Phan Ngo said, according to the Independent. Chief Assistant District Attorney of Santa Clara County Jay Boyarsky said there was “very appalling and disturbing evidence” that the victims may have been targeted based on their race.
Witness accounts described Peoples thanking or praising Jesus, or words to that effect, after the crash, Mercury News reported.
Chuck Smith, an attorney representing Peoples, said he was being held without bail at the Santa Clara County Jail. He will enter a plea on May 16, Smith said. “His mental state is going to be the battleground in the case,” Smith said, according to the Independent. “We are going to have him evaluated by the best people we can find because, like all veterans, he deserves the best people we can find.”
Ngo said investigators will explore whether traumatic stress from the war could have been one of the reasons behind the crash. He said there are so far no indications that the attack was an act of terrorism.
The other injured people were identified as: Marina Reimler, 32; Soeren Reimler, 33; Ping Lu, 51; Rajesh Narayan, 45; Eric Nava, 24; and Miguel, 15.
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